Department of
Computer Science
Graduate Orientation
D R . C I H A N VA R OL , G R A D UAT E C O O R D I N ATOR
C VA ROL @S H S U. E D U
D E PA R T M E N T N E W G R A D UAT E S T U D E N T W E B S I T E :
HTTP://WWW.SHSU.EDU/~CXV007/GRADUATE/NEWSTUDENTS/NEWSTUDENTS.HTM L
Welcome!
Congratulations to all new students in our three graduate degree programs
and four graduate certificate programs
◦ Computing and Information Science (CIS)
◦ Digital Forensics (DF)
◦ Information Assurance and Security (IAS)
◦ Cyber Security Certificate
◦ Data Assurance Certificate
◦ Digital Investigation Certificate
◦ Educational Technology Certificate
Contacts
Graduate Advisor:
Dr. Cihan Varol, cvarol@shsu.edu, AB1-216F, 936-294-3930
Department Secretary:
Kathryn Robertson, kbw001@shsu.edu, AB1-214, 936-294-3846
Note: you should check your SHSU email on daily basis
Current Department Graduate
Faculty
Dr. Min Kyung An, an@shsu.edu, 936-294-4333, AB1-216J
Dr. Hyuk Cho, hyukcho@shsu.edu, 936-294-1535, AB1-216H
Dr. Peter Cooper, cooper@shsu.edu, 936-294-1569, AB1-214A
Dr. Umit Karabiyik, uxk006@shsu.edu, 936-294-4785, AB1-212E
Dr. Qingzhong (Frank) Liu, liu@shsu.edu, 936-294-3569, AB1-216D
Dr. Timothy McGuire, mcguire@shsu.edu, 936-294-1571, AB1-212G
Dr. Li-Jen Shannon, lys001@shsu.edu, 936-294-1582, AB1-216C
Dr. Narasimha (Karpoor) Shashidhar, nks001@shsu.edu, 936-294-1591, AB1-216B
Dr. Gary Smith, gsmith@shsu.edu, 936-294-1493, AB1-216G
Dr. Donggil Song, dxs059@shsu.edu, AB1-212J
Dr. Cihan Varol, cvarol@shsu.edu, 936-294-3930, AB1-216F
Dr. Bing (Jenny) Zhou, bxz003@shsu.edu, 936-294-1590, AB1-216E
Other department faculty
Dr. David Burris, david.burris@shsu.edu, 936-294-1568, AB1-212C
Dr. Jiahuang Ji, jiahuang@shsu.edu, 936-294-1579, AB1-212B
Andy Bennett, ajb028@shsu.edu, 936-294-4768, AB1-212D
Kirk Burns, lib_kab@shsu.edu, AB1-212A
Hacer Varol, hxv002@shsu.edu, 936-294-1075, AB1-212J
Forms to be filed electronically with
graduate advisor by the 2nd week of the
semester
Department
New
Graduate
Student
Website:
http://www.shsu.edu/~cxv007/graduate/NewStudents/NewStudents.html
Forms and instructions are posted on same website; forms should be filed via
email with Dr. Varol (cvarol@shsu.edu)
GN-01: Graduate Student Declaration of Major Form (must be filed for all
degree students)
GN-02: Graduate Study Plan Form (must be filed for all degree and non-degree
students)
GN-03: Department Graduate Orientation Form (must be filed for all students)
**GN-04: Graduate Studies Admission Form (only for change of major or
change of admission status)
Study – degree programs and
certificates
a master degree program is 36 credits in total
◦ CIS
◦ Thesis (30 credits course + COSC 6348 and 6049) or Non-Thesis (33 credits course + capstone master
project course COSC 6347)
◦ DF or IAS
◦ Non-Thesis (33 credits course + capstone master project course DFSC 6347)
◦ core (required) and electives (optional)
◦ max 6 credits from Special Topic courses
◦ students graduating in 12 months must visit and go through all information on the
website for graduating students in 12 months
◦ students graduating within 1 semester must visit and go through all information
on the website for graduating students
◦ capstone master project course COSC/DFSC 6347 – counts 3 credits in total
regardless of times taken; required to register in the graduating semester
Study – degree programs and
certificates (cont…)
double major
◦ DF + IAS
◦ all courses in both cores are required, plus electives meeting both
degree requirements
a certificate program is 15 credits in total
master degree with certificate option
◦ need to apply for certificate
◦ courses can be applied to both degree and certificate
Non-degree  degree
◦ Need to apply for degree program
◦ may apply up to 18 credits to degree program (with approval by Dean of
COS)
Study – classes and credits
 Most graduate courses only appears once in a calendar year
 For degree programs, try to complete core courses as early as possible – core content
covered by Comprehensive Exams (may be waived on courses scored an “A”)
 length of study: degree programs allow max 6 consecutive years
 A student will be automatically out of program if NOT taking any class in two
consecutive long-semesters
 keep your GPA above 3.0, otherwise you will be under probation or terminated
◦ avoid getting “C”
◦ terminated when receiving an “F” or upon second probation or receiving three “C”s
credit transfers with approval
◦ max 6 credits, only equivalent to graduate courses in degree plan
◦ only credits with grades B or better
◦ use GN-05: Grade/Degree Transfer Request Form, college is “COS”
Research and projects
master capstone project (required for all degree programs)
◦ more details refer to website for graduating students in 1 year and website of
graduating students in one semester
◦ normally starts after two semesters of graduate study
◦ student approaches to graduate faculty regarding choosing project supervisor
and two additional committee members, and discusses with committee for topic
and details of research project
◦ must pass project proposal in semester prior to graduating semester (or earlier);
no proposal scheduled in Summer semesters**
◦ pay attention to ALL relevant deadlines and file ALL necessary forms!
◦ expected project outcome: deliverables such as computer programs,
documentation of project, and paper submission to conference or journal
other projects and funding support
◦ look for research projects and funding support that may benefit you in graduate
studies and future career
Academic integrity
Maintain high academic integrity at all time!
Absolutely NO cheating or plagiarism in any assignment/lab/task/work!
◦ Absolutely NO copying of others work in any form!
◦ If content reflects existing work from others, you must use proper citations
and references!
◦ If you have to use the original content, you must use quotations, in
addition to proper citations and references!
◦ Violation of this may cause serious consequences, e.g. zero in grades,
failure in a class, termination from program, etc.
Details of Internship
 Eligibility – The student should complete a minimum of 2 full semesters in
the university to be eligible for CPT approval.
 Offer letter – Offer letter should contain the tenure of work along with
number of work hours per week
 Approval from Grad Advisor – The offer letter should be shown to grad
advisor for approval and discuss regarding the subject registration for the
internship course. (Student should register for minimum of 3 credits of
Internship in the department to be eligible for CPT).
 New I-20 from International Admissions Office – The offer letter should
be given to International Graduate Advisor to obtain a new I-20 and only
then the student will be permitted to work.
Scholarships and financial
support
Research Assistantship (RA) – contact individual professors for possible
grant support
Departmental Teaching/Graduate Assistantship (TA/GA) – contact Dr.
Narasimha Shashidhar (Chair of Departmental Graduate Assistantship
Committee)
College of Sciences Special Graduate Scholarship Award (see GN-06 form
on website); recommended for students who have GRE 300+, GPA 3.33+,
TOEFL 85+ or IELTS 7.0+
Graduate Studies Scholarship – requirements are similar to the above
scholarship,
send
completed
nomination
form
http://www.shsu.edu/dept/graduate-studies/scholarships.html to Dr. Varol
(cvarol@shsu.edu) each semester.
look for scholarships on university and college websites
(Immigration) status
International students
◦ Required to register and keep in full time status, e.g. 9 credit hours in Spring
and Fall, 6 in Summer
◦ Summer registration can be waived only when the student has registered
full time in both of Fall and Spring semesters of same Academic Year
◦ TA and RA can register as low as 6 credit hours in Fall or Spring as full time
◦ contact Office of International Programs to make sure that you are (will) not
(be) out-of-status
◦ GN-07: Online Course Reporting form must be filed with Office of
International Programs for each online class enrolled, this may require faceto-face meetings with professor; see form GN-07 on website
U.S. students – readmission is required when not enrolled in two consecutive
long-semesters
Activities
SHACS:
◦ http://www.shsu.edu/~org_shacs/
◦ Welcomes all graduate students
◦ TAs and students on scholarships are required to participate
Sports
◦ Recreational Sports: http://www.shsu.edu/dept/recreational-sports/